1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wrist control apparatus which is designed to be worn on the arm of a golfer-in-training so as to teach such golfer to employ proper wrist movement during the entire golf swing, including the address of the ball, and during the backswing, downswing, impact, and follow-through.
2. Background Art
The correct golf swing is a set of highly complex body movements which require precise coordination of the hands, arms, shoulders, torso, hips, legs, and knees of the golfer, occurring at the proper sequence, and at the precise instant as the weight is shifted to enable optimum power delivery to the ball. The golfer can only master the golf swing if each movement becomes second nature, since it is not possible to concentrate on each individual movement during the few seconds of the golf swing.
While the motion of each part of the body is important as the golfer's body coils and then uncoils, proper wrist movement during the golf swing is particularly important as all of the power is transferred from the golfer's body through the club grip, along the club length, into the club head, and into the ball through the arms and wrists of the golfer. It is, therefore, critical that the wrists of the golfer be properly positioned to assure that the club-head is "square" through impact.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,342 represents a design for controlling the wrist movement of an athlete, such as a golfer or bowler. While this device provides wrist control, it is not specifically designed for the mechanics of a golf swing and fails to address key elements of the swing. Since the proper wrist angle in the forward/backward plane is not throughout the swing, this device lacks any adjustability in wrist angle. Also, this device fails to take into account the difference in range of wrist movement during the backswing and the downswing.
What is needed is an apparatus that controls the angle of wrist rotation in the forward/backward plane of motion while providing no restraint in the lateral plane: which enables different amounts of rotation in the forward/backward plane of motion during the backswing and the downswing to within acceptable prescribed limits, and is adjustable so as to adapt to different golf swings involving different clubs.